Thoughts Have Changed
by WishingDreamer5
Summary: Post KH2. Now that Riku finally is home, he realizes how wrong he's been about Destiny Islands. He can't believe that he had wanted to leave this place once. He also wonders what's happened to the mysterious brunette and the pretty, blue-haired woman...


**A/N: I had planned to write this quite a while ago, but I got kinda sidetracked thanks to other story ideas I got. This is supposed to be a sequel/continuation to/of "A Dystopian Utopia." You might understand this one-shot better if you read that one, but it can be read apart. It's up to you. ;) But if you've read that one, then I'm wondering if you notice the difference between Riku's thoughts of his surroundings. Enjoy reading! :)**

**Special thanks: Aqua StormXIV, my beta reader.**

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_~ Riku often wondered what had happened to the mysterious brunette and the pretty, blue-haired woman. Hadn't everything started from the time he had met them? He couldn't remember much of it anymore, for he had been young and his memories were pretty damaged, but there were some parts of that day that he could still recall. ~_

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Home. It was such a wonderful thing. Really. Not everyone was lucky enough to have one. Even the word sounded promising and full of hope for someone who hadn't been at that very place for quite a while. Someone like Riku, for example. Riku had finally found the true essence of home and he simply loved it.

He contently sat on the paopu tree that grew towards the sea, leaning on his left arm as not to lose his balance. His right hand was placed lightly on his right knee. It looked as though said tree was bowing lightly to the mysterious blue blanket and showing respect that way. After all, the sea was very dangerous. If you didn't show how much you feared it, it could destroy you with one wave.

The air smelled like the salty sea, fish and a lazy summer evening. It smelled exactly like home.

As Riku quietly watched the sea that reflected the beautiful sun, he couldn't help but start to think about everything that had happened to him on his journeys. He stared out at the horizon, barely noticing that the setting sun was almost blinding him. It didn't matter, though, because this time it was in a good way.

Riku had missed all of this. The tree, the sea, the sunset...his family...the smell of home...the great life he had had here, before that terrible storm. It was hard to believe that there really had been a time that he had wanted to get off this paradise, his home. How long ago had it been? Three years, he realized, with a start. Things had changed drastically since that very moment.

Now he knew what Odysseus felt like. The poor guy hadn't been home for ten years after the war, until the gods and godesses started to feel sorry for him. Of course, Riku didn't have a wife or a son to miss, but he sure had missed his parents (his mother much more than his father...).

There were still some gaps in his memories and some things were blurred, especially the events that had taken place after he had been locked into Kingdom Hearts, as though he had wanted to ban some certain sinister thoughts from his head. He knew that there was no potion to cure that. Maybe time would help him to heal those wounds.

Perhaps it would stay forever that way. He did not know for sure if he regretting that, or not. He wasn't sure which of the two he prefered, to remember everything he had done in the past three years, or not to know what terrible things were his fault.

Riku often wondered what had happened to the mysterious brunette and the pretty, blue-haired woman. Hadn't everything started from the time he had met them? He couldn't remember much of it anymore, for he had been young and his memories were pretty damaged, but there were some parts of that day that he could still recall.

He remembered that Sora's dad had brought Sora and him to the Play Island, as they used to call it. They had spent the whole day here, building sand castles, swimming, climbing trees, racing each other, and so on.

The two best friends had started yet another race after Sora had lost the last one. He always used to lose races against Riku, because Riku was much faster. When Riku calmly had walked to the finish, he had spotted the young man that had watched them all this time from a distance. They had started a conversation and Riku had held onto the man's Keyblade. The man had asked him kindly not to tell anyone about their meeting, otherwise the magic would wear off.

Not too long after that they had met a pretty young woman with blue hair and matching cerulean eyes. As if the clothes weren't an obvious hint that she wasn't from the outside world. Sometimes, he wondered if she had seen the future. That would explain why she had told Sora to protect him.

He heard running footsteps coming from somewhere behind him, interrupting his train of thoughts and the serenity around him. He could immediately tell it was Sora. He smiled at that thought. They had been best friends for such a long time that he could recognize the other at once.

Sora came to a halt when he reached the tree. He climbed over it in one quick move and leaned against it, putting his arms behind his head, like he always did. All this time, they didn't look at each other. It was then that Riku chose to speak first.

"Nothing's changed, huh?"

"Nope. Nothing will," the brunette replied, almost at once.

He sounded so certain, but Riku wasn't that sure if he completely agreed with his best friend. Nobody could know what the future would hold for them. Besides, everything was bound to change.

Nonetheless, Riku said, "What a small world."

"But part of one that's much bigger."

The silver-haired teen nodded briefly. Sora was right.

"Yeah."

A comfortable silence set between them for a while.

Sora decided to break it, by suddenly looking up at him, asking, "Hey Riku...what do you think it was- the door to the light?"

Somehow, Riku had already expected that question from Sora. But then again, they had been friends for such a long time that sometimes it even looked like they could read each other's minds. They could almost be seen as brothers, instead of just best friends.

He jumped down of the tree and faced his younger friend.

As he tapped Sora's chest with his index finger, he said, "This."

Sora looked up at him, completely stunned and eyes widened slightly.

He touched the place where his heart ought to be and asked, sounding just as surprised as he looked like, "This?"

"Yeah. It's always closer than you think," Riku replied.

With that, Sora's trademark goofy grin appeared on his face. He wanted to say something, but got interruped by a familiar female voice that called them.

"Sora! Riku!" they heard, coming from a short distance.

They didn't even have to look to see who it was. Nevertheless, they both turned to the sound and stepped to the redhead that came running towards them. she stopped in front of them, trying to catch her breath. Riku noticed that she had a bottle in her hands. A letter was in it. Riku still remembered how different he used to feel around her. Nervous, excited, happier than he should be. All of it was gone with the wind now.

"What's up?" Sora asked, rather curiously.

"Look," she said, holding the green-colored bottle closer to them for a better inspection.

It was then that they saw the oh so familiar seal on the backside of the letter.

King Mickey! Riku thought, with a start.

It sure was strange that they already got a letter from him, for they had just returned from their long journey. This could only mean one thing. Either something important was happening, or it had happened already and the King was informing them with this letter.

It seemed that Sora had recognized it, too, because the next thing he did was crying, "From the King?"

Before any of them could do anything, he reached forward to grab the bottle, obviously being more curious and excited than ever. He opened the bottle and took the letter. Riku, being slightly curious as well, read over his shoulder. He had a feeling that his suspicions were right. From now on, everything would change again.

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**A/N: Riku has no idea how right he is with that one. Thank you so much for reading! I hope you liked this, even though it's not my best work. It almost looks like I'm obsessed with Riku and Leon lately... This is my third entry for Bookaholic711's Project PULL. A review is more than welcome. ;)**


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